Protecting built heritage: MPs call for ‘reuse first’ mindset to safeguard historic buildings and help hit new homes goal

• 670,000 new homes could be created by breathing new life into old buildings, learning from approaches such as Italy's 1 homes scheme
• New report warns listed buildings, churches, industrial heritage and monuments under strain from cost pressures, workforce shortages and unfit planning system
• Historic buildings on government-owned estates like military bases and prisons left to crumble with little consequence
• Committee calls for VAT relief for repairs and sustained funding to protect places of worship

Nearly half of the government's 1.5million home building target could be met by giving a new lease of life to historic buildings currently lying vacant or under-used, MPs say today.

• Report: Protecting built heritage (pdf)

In a report examining the state of the UK's built heritage, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee is calling on the government to learn lessons from international approaches such as Italy's 1 homes scheme and adopt a reuse first' approach to unlock up to 670,000 new homes.

The report follows a more than 18-month long inquiry which uncovered how listed buildings, churches, old factories and monuments up and down the country are under significant and increasing strain from cost pressures, workforce shortages and a planning system that is complex and inconsistent.

Highlighting a major missed opportunity for heritage to contribute to the local and national economy, the committee calls for a change in the government's approach both to secure the long-term future of the historic environment and to unlock its full potential to support growth.

In addition to making the case for reforms to the planning process and launching a heritage-to-housing' scheme, the report outlines recommendations related to improving financial support for old properties and tackling skills shortages in the heritage workforce.

It warns that the current VAT regime is discouraging repairs and reuse by making it more expensive that new construction and calls for targeted relief for maintenance and conversion. Funding for repairs to churches and other places of worship should also be maintained, the committee adds.

There also needs to be a new commitment to promoting careers and boosting skills in the heritage sector, the report says, amid a warning that shortages in the workforce pose one of the most serious risks to the long-term protection of the UK's built heritage.

Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS Committee, said:

Old buildings and other pieces of our past play a vital economic, social and cultural role in our communities, but the sight of leaking roofs, crumbling brickwork and vacant premises illustrates how the current policy approach to heritage is failing miserably to support either its protection or potential.

Historic England says that there is potential to create a whopping 670,000 new homes and yet the government's approach reveals a deep complacency, is devoid of ambition, and shows a complete lack of imagination.

We heard compelling evidence that the best way of protecting a building is for it to be occupied, used, lived in and loved. Other countries with a similarly rich heritage have shown what can be achieved by thinking outside the box. Reuse first' should be the guiding principle, with a heritage to housing scheme offering a clear win-win by preserving our historic buildings and helping to meet the pressing need for new homes.

Ministers also need to ensure adequate funding that incentivises repairs and renewal over construction, and meet head on the serious risk to heritage posed by the lack of skills and workforce in the sector.

It also shouldn't be right that private owners face significant obligations to protect historic buildings, while government departments are able to allow heritage assets to rot at public expense.

All the time that the government allows our historic environment to continue to deteriorate, we risk losing out on not just links to our past but on opportunities for economic growth and regeneration in our communities.

Main findings and recommendations

Unlocking the potential of built heritage

• The deterioration of heritage assets represents a major missed opportunity. Their significant potential to support economic growth and tourism is being systematically constrained by a combination of financial, structural and policy pressures. The government must take sustained action to prioritise active use and remove the structural barriers that continue to hold the sector back.

• Heritage-led housing is no longer a niche or peripheral opportunity, but a major and under-recognised means of addressing the country's acute housing shortage. Historic England's estimate that up to 670,000 homes could be delivered through the reuse of vacant or under-used heritage buildings is equivalent to almost half of the government's current housebuilding target. However, the government is failing to prioritise the reuse of heritage buildings in a way that will enable its huge potential to be fulfilled.

• The government introduce a 'heritage-to-housing' scheme to bring vacant and at-risk historic buildings back into residential use. The scheme should draw on lessons from other countries such as Italy's 1 house initiatives and renovation tax incentives, but be adapted to UK conditions. It should combine discounted transfer or leasing of heritage assets with time-limited restoration requirements, financial support for renovation and strong safeguards to ensure long-term occupation and smooth bureaucratic processes.

• The government adopt a reuse-first approach to housing policy, prioritising the conversion of vacant and under-used heritage buildings before pursuing new build.

Financial support for built heritage

• The current funding landscape for built heritage is fragmented, short-term and does not adequately support the long-term nature of conservation. The committee recommends that the government sets out a clear, cohesive and long-term strategy for funding built heritage.

• The government must ensure that overall funding available through the Places of Worship Renewal Fund is at least as generous in real terms as the level of support provided through the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme prior to its reductions in budget and the introduction of per-site caps, to prevent any reduction in the number and scale of essential repair projects.

• The current VAT regime creates a structural disincentive to repair, maintain and reuse historic buildings. The government should introduce targeted VAT relief for maintenance and conversion of listed heritage buildings.

The public heritage estate

• Publicly owned heritage assets are too often allowed to deteriorate, with responsibility spread across departments, weak compliance with existing protocols and no effetive mechanism to enforce minimum standards. The government must lead by example by ensuring that the buildings it owns and is responsible for are properly maintained, actively managed and, where appropriate, brought back into beneficial use.

Workforce and skills

• Workforce and skills shortages now pose one of the most serious risks to the long-term protection of the UK's built heritage. An ageing workforce, limited training routes, insecure funding and declining local authority expertise are combining to create a fragile skills pipeline that is unable to meet current demand.

• The government should work with Skills England, Historic England and sector bodies to create protected training pathways for endangered heritage crafts and establish a heritage skills hub' to promote careers in the heritage sector.

The planning system

• While the government's proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework are welcome, they must go further to address the persistent delays, inconsistency and administrative burden experienced by developers, owners and community organisations.